Cutting apparatus for mining machines



Sept. 25, 1923.

w. J. WILSON CUTTING APPARATUS FOR MINING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 18. 1918 W. J WILSON CUTTING APPARATUS FOR MINING MACHINES Sept. 25, 1923. f 1,469,132

Filed Nov. 18, 1918 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 EIILXI Patented Sept. 25, 1923.

' attain,-

-w'AL'rEa 3'. WILSON, or s'EwIoKLEY, PENNSYLVANIA.

CUTTING inmate's rou- ININc- IVIACHINES.'

Application filefanove ber 18,1918. Serial o. 3,0521. l 1 V To all whom it may concern:

This invention relates more particularly to mining machines of the cutter chain type. lnthese inachines, as ordinarily constructed, the chain passes through a guide which holds it rigidly up to its work, so that each bit travels in a substantially straight line, making a out similar to that of a planer tool. When a miner cuts a' kerf with a p ick, t he cutting operation is quite different .lT-roin that of the bits as thus described. He usually makes a slight arc-shaped cut with his pick, which means that the finish ofthecut is outwardly or towardan open end. He then makes another similar cut in advance of the first one, thus leaving a spandrel- L shaped, or triangular, space between the two cuts. This projecting portion of coal is then easily broken out by the next stroke of the pick. iBy repeating this operation at the top and bottom of the kerf,the intermediate portions are more readily excavated. j The present invention relates to a cutting ia-p'pa-V ratus which is intended to somewhat simulate this methodof cutting or excavating as done :by a mine-r. r

'The objects of this invention are to p-ro-,

machines; to provide a plurality of'cutter chains arranged adjacent to eachiother, each chain having guide means wherebythe bits 7 of one. chain. ina'y be. forced vforwardlyat pointsintermediate to those-at which the bits of the adjacent chain are-forcedfon wardly; "to p-rovidez' a pluralityf oi cutter chains arranged adjacent 'to each other and.

adapted to co-act incutting' a relatively wide'kerf, said chains being supported by guides whereby they may be arranged at various positions withrespect. to each other, and whereby the portions of one chain.,may

vand in general to provide suchadvantages cation Serial and improvements as will bedescribed mor e fully hereinafter. I In the accompanying "drawings illustrating thisinvention I I Figure 1 is aside view of a' cutterarm and chain, embodying this in'ventionfj Figure 2 is a cross sectional/view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; o Figure 3 is a frag nenta'ry longitudinal sectional View;

Figure 42% is a side view showing'the ar range-ment of a plurality of chains whichare arranged adjacent to each other, and are supported .on wheels of the same size;

- Figure .5 is acrosssectional view taken on line 5-55 of Fig. t; r

-Figure.6 is a side viewshowing the arrangement when the chains'are supported on wheels of different size p F lgure 7 1s a plan v ew oftjhe shown 1n Fig. 6

' Figure 8' is a cross sectional View taken apparatus on line 8-8 of Fig.6; and

. mittedfor convenience iniillustration.

Myinvention is applicable to; thevarious types of miningmachines IIOW lIl use,;such

'as breast 'machines, long wall machines,

short wall machines; and isparticularly applicable to mining and loading machines :of the charactershown in my co-pending=appli- 9.

, y v -.;lFigs. l fto ,3 illustrate the invention as: applied to the v cutter armlof a short-wall represents a cutter ar1n havingj a -driv'ing *sprocket 12 -at one end, anda guide wheel 13 at the opposite I end,-,;it'xbeingi understood 1 coal or-rothermaterial to be excavated-.fl'llhe that thisend is the one-which enters ithe bar :01 arm' is provided with a: rear chain 7 guide 14, which maybe of any ordinary construction; The front :chainjguide -15 em bodies the .principialnovel ,f eaturiesof this,

invention. Instead of guiding the chain in 1 a straight longitudinalline,1this guide is V uide' the'chain; in" a constructed so as" to 7 curved or wavy line.- ihis isreadily accom- .plis'hed' by inserting cam-:like lugs or proj ecgtionslG inthebottomof the guide channel machine. As" shown 'infthese- Figures, 1119.

' 15. These projections or inserts may be held in any suitable manner, as by means of rivets 17. These cams or inserts are curved or tapered, as shown in Fig. 3, and are preferably arranged so that the highest points are 'separatedby a distance equal to approximately four links ofthe chain 18, or so that when two of the bits 19 are at these elevated points, the intermediate bit will be halfway between them. While I consider this the best arrangement, it will be noted that the spacing of the elevated portions may be varied if desired. For'certain types of machines .now constructed, these elevationsmay be about one-fourth of an inch in height and approximately ten inches from center to center. It will also beino'ted that a curved or wavedguide may also be constructed in different ways to conform to this invention,

'20 but the arrangement described provides a simple method of construction. 7

The operation pf this apparatus,asthus described will bereadily understood if the cutter arm iscon sidered asl aving made its 2 sumping cut and is moving forwardly. It

will be understood that theforward or feedingmovement of the cutter bar causes *the V guide to'press the chain 18 forwardlyjso as to hold the bits-19 in cutting engagement with the coal; With my improved guide, each bit may be considered as makingjan arcuate cut, as indicated at 20 and 21- in Fig. 8, as each link passes over the corre- V 'spondinig projection 16. It will be noted that v the bit in making the-latter part of the cut moves toward the kerf or toward an open face, so that the coal will bebroken out more easily when the: bit is 'making a straight longitudinal cut and always-{work- 40 ing'against the coal. When the bits have madethe arcuatecuts as indicated at 20 and 21, u1e intermediateprojection, indicated at 22,'is then more readily cutor excavated, -as-the bit is then- Cutting toward the openingmade by the arcuate cut in advance thereof. The'exact cutting operation ofeach bit will, of course, be somewhat modified by the"forwardniovement o'f the bar, "but' the general action is substantially as above I de- D scribediflt will beseenthat meansyof this -arrangement, "muclr-ofith'e cutting is V i done towardithe kerf or 'towar'd an'open'end,

- whereby the cuttings will be .more easily L excavated and will be larger than usu'a-lly made 'withltheordinary'chainf eutter.'

I While-the preceding description has referred to an undercutting machine, it may I also be considered as applicable to a mining and loading machineadapted to cut a-vertif'cal ke'rtg' T p T Figs. etfand 5 sho'wla-cutterbarhavinga plurality e1": chains, and .con'structedfp articularly for cutting and loading machine.

In this nstance:the cutter bar "23 is :pro-- V1Cl8d with 'a plurality of chain g'uides 24e,

cent chain.

rib, asindicated at36,which'will beflea'sily through; 1

lessees;

2 5 and 26. These guides are provided with .place instaggered relation in the different guides, so that when'the bits of one chain in raised position, the bits of the adjacent chain may be in depressed position. This will further assist the excavating action, as when the bits of the central chain are cutting certain portions of the material, th'e'bits of the adjacent chains will havepreviously made cuts at the sides of such material, so that'it'will more readily cut or broken away. l/Vith this arrangement, *the excavated material is carried back by the chains along'the upper guides, so as :to form a combined excavating and conveyingapparatus.

As shown in Figs. 6 and 7,"the cutter bar 28 is'p rovide d at the outerend with 'a large guide wheel 29 for the intermediate chain 30, and withsmaller guide wheel s'3l'iorthe side chains 32. This '-arrangement re reversed at the inner end where the-intermediate chain 30 is provided with a small driving sprocket 33, and the side chains are pro vided with larger driving sprockets 34. in

this '-instance,.the chain guides are connected by plates 35 to hold the material flS'lt is'being conveyed. The elevations on thedifferent guides are also staggered, so that the arcs cut by the bits: in one chain willbe intermediate of those cutby bits in" the adj a Furthermore, ii'till be seen that where the two side chains are inad- 1 ance ofthe intermediate-chain, as-shown- 'in Fig. 8 there will be a projecting ledge or broken away bythe bits'of theintermediate' chain. The operation is somewhat similar. when the central chain is in advance off'the side chains, as indicated in 'Fi gs-9; asesi'd'e ledges will be formed which maybe readily 1-10 broken away by the bitsof the side chains. 7

Where a plurality of chains are' utiliz'ed,

they may be positioned inany desired manner with respect-to each otheiguas further V illustrated in j-Fi'g. 16, inf-which :fithelzside 1 chains 37 are arranged-in"planes diverging 1 from the plane'of the central chain38. ;x-

' :With my im'proved app'arat'u-s, the cutting 7 under {ordinary conditionsf wil'l be :tlone-iin' an" easier manner than with theordinary cut-' "ter chain, and iless power will be required while superior cuttings will be'produ'ced- It will be particularly :noted; that when :.sul

-phur balls or otherhard jsubstancessare encountere'd, the cutting": action will be :expe

dited, as the bits .will 'then work their way 5 around the hard substanc'e so thatvit maybe dislodged instead of having to be cut Other 'advantagesof my improvedtappa ratus willbe' apparent .tothose-familiar with this art, and it will be also noted that changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the scope of my invention. Therefore I do not wish to limit myself to the exact construction 7 herein shown and described, except as specified in the following claims, in which I claim:

l. A cutting appartus' for a mining ma chine having a continuous chain guide with a waved bottom for'the chain. 7

2. A continuous guide chain for a mining machine, having intermittent projections forming supports for the chain, whereby the intermediate portions of the chain'may be pressed backwardly.

3. The combination with a cutter arm for a mining machine and cutter chain therefor, of means comprising a continuous guide for the chain, whereby the chain may move along an irregular path as it travels along the front of the guide.

4. The combination with a chain. guide for a mining machine, adapted to form a continuous support for the chain of projections arranged in said guide and adapted to per- .mit the chain to move laterally with respect to the guide.

5. The combination with a chainguide for a mining-machine, of a plurality of spaced supports secured in said guide and having curved faces, whereby the cutter bits may be caused to make a series of arcuate cuts as they move longitudinally of the uide. l g 6. In a mining machine, the combination of a cutter bar, a plurality of cutter chains mounted on saidbar,longitudinal--guides for i said chains, and projections in said guides arranged in staggered relationin the respective guides, whereby the bitsin the respective chains will move laterally with respect to the guide at difi'erent points as they move longitudinally of the guides.

7. Ina mining machine, the combination of a cutter bar, a plurality of cutterchains carried by said bar, the cutting reaches of said chains being arranged at different distances from a transverse planethrough the. center of said bar.

8. The combination with a cutterarm, of a plurality of cutter chains mounted in parallel relation on'said arm, portions of some of the cutting, reaches ofsaid chains being arranged at different distances from a trans verse plane through the center of the arm jacent chains. I

. 9. The combination of a cutter arm,

wheelsmounted at each end of said arm, a

plurality of chains carried by said wheels,

said wheels being of different sizes. r

10. In a mining machine, the combination than the corresponding portionsof-the adof a cutter bar, aplurality of cutter chains 7 carried by said bar," uide. wheel smounted in the outer end of saidbar, said wheels being of different diameters.

11. Ina mining machine,'the'combination of a cutter bar, ap'lurality of chains mounted on said cutter bar, and driving sprockets of different diameters for driving said chain's.

WALTER J. wILsoN. 

